DESIGN AND INNOVATION

Control M
ost people in
motorsport have
heard of Moog
valves, but very
few outside

under
Formula 1 and World Rallying
know much about what they are
and what they do. We therefore
set out to nd out why they
have become so essential at the
top end of our sport.

pressure
At their simplest, Moog
valves are electrically operated
servovalves that control hydraulic
actuators. Their unique appeal,
however, is the speed and
accuracy with which they can
regulate the ow using tiny
electrical inputs. On a racecar
this is an essential quality as
a number of systems, such as
What is a Moog valve and why has it become an essential part gear selection and throttle
operation, are driven by high-
of Formula 1 technology over the last quarter of a century? pressure hydraulics, and fast,
precise control is essential. The
BY CHARLES ARMSTRONG-WILSON fundamental reason for the
adoption of hydraulic technology
in F1 is its unparalleled power
density and, in the weight-
conscious world of racecar
engineering, hydraulic actuation
systems are a fraction of the size
and weight of the alternative
electrical or pneumatic systems.
The valves themselves were
invented by Bill Moog in 1950,
for use in aircraft and missiles,
but it was not until the early
1980s that they made their

what is
learned in
F1 is rarely
forgotten
rst appearance in motorsport.
That was due to Team Lotus,
which had been wrestling with
the problems of ground-effect
aerodynamics and the attendant
ride height sensitivity. Its
solution was active suspension
in essence, replacing the
springs, dampers and anti-roll
bars with hydraulic actuators
controlled by a computer.
To get the precision, the
company turned to the aerospace
industry and used off-the-
shelf Moog Series 30 hydraulic
servovalves. By the early 1990s,
while fully active suspension
attracted few followers in F1,
With this E050 cartridge valve, Moog has taken its valves from the raried attitude control by hydraulics had
world of Formula 1 into the hostile environment of World Rallying become the state of the art, with

November 2008 www.racecar-engineering.com 67

 DESIGN AND INNOVATION

Moogs product range for

motorsport has grown to include
items like this power-assisted
steering valve

The companys E024 series micro valve was developed specically for
motorsport and is now widely used on Formula 1 cars

HOW IT WORKS
Valve responding Valve condition
to change in following charge
electrical input

When a current is applied the armature swings, blanking the ow from one jet and moving the spool. This, in turn, balances the force on the armature

When Bill Moog patented his uid

control valve in 1950, it comprised
several hydraulic control principles
developed over centuries. It was his
packaging and renement, however,
that made the Moog uid control valve
such a powerful component. The clever
part of a Moog valve is its
ability to precisely control the
ow of high-pressure uids
with very small control inputs.
The way it achieves this is by
using the pressure of the uid
it controls to power the valve.
A Moog valve continuously
ows a small amount of uid
through two small jets facing each
other. Between them is a apper valve
connected to the armature in a torque
motor. The armature sits between
permanent magnets and, as a current
is fed to wire coils around the armature,
it twists a small amount a couple of
degrees at most. This, in turn, moves
the apper valve, obstructing the ow
from one of the two jets and increasing
the pressure in that feed compared with
the other, which is still venting pressure
through its unrestricted jet.
Both these pressure feeds are
At some point, the two
opposing forces reach an
equilibrium that stabilises
the position of the spool
connected via a side gallery to either
end of a sliding valve, called a spool, in
a cylindrical gallery with cut-out valve
orices. The difference in pressure
between the two feed pipes causes the
spool to slide along the cylinder, opening
a supply of the main pressure feed in the
direction required via the ports.
The Moog valve has an additional
renement that gives it its spectacular
level of accuracy and control. On the end
of the armature-mounted apper valve
is a feedback spring. Put simply, this is
a exible member with a ball end that
locates in the spool. As the
spool moves in response to the
pressure difference, it moves
the end of the feedback spring,
opposing the movement of the
apper valve and armature. At
some point, the two opposing
forces reach an equilibrium
that stabilises the position
of the spool and, in turn, the amount
of restriction to the main ow of uid.
In this way, it allows small changes to
the current at the armature to produce
precise changes to the ow of uid. This
principle allows the Moog valve to also
work as a uid pressure amplier.

68 www.racecar-engineering.com November 2008


Although they differ in application, all Moog valves
share the same basic principle of operation
A linear actuator, as used to drive
position-sensitive systems like
throttles and gear selector barrels
most teams running some kind of
short-stroke actuator under the
springs. But for the 1994 season,
the FIA chose to ban it for a
number of reasons, including
development cost and safety.
F1 SYSTEMS
What is learned in F1, however,
is rarely forgotten and the Moog
valve had, by then, found its way
into other areas of the car. As
many as 10 systems on an F1 car
were being controlled by Moog
valves, including anti-lock braking,
brake balance and braking
power assistance. Moog had
also recognised the sport as an
ideal market for its products and
started making valves specically
to meet the demands of F1.
Today, the most commonly
used hydraulic servovalve in
F1 is the Moog E024 series
sub-miniature valve. Developed
specically for F1, it weighs just
92g, less than half the weight
of the companys smallest
aerospace valve. Typically, an
F1 car would use ve or six,
operating the clutch, gearshift
selector drums, throttle and
differential.
In the interests of minimum
size and weight, F1 hydraulic
systems run at very high
pressures (up to 230bar) and an
E024 servovalve can control as
much as 5bhp (3.5KW) with a
command signal of just +_10mA.
This allows the valves to be
driven directly from the cars ECU.
The valves are usually grouped
onto a single hydraulics block,
through which hydraulic pressure
is distributed and controlled.
Essentially, all the valve
does is accurately control the
ow of hydraulic uid and, to
make this property useful in a
racecar, it has to be incorporated
into a feedback loop with a
sensor. On the throttles and the
gear selection barrels, where
precise position is key,
the valve operates
in response to a to make this useful
position sensor. On the in a racecar it has to
differential, however,
it is responding to the be incorporated into
signal from a pressure a feedback loop with a
sensor. The clutch can
be either, depending
sensor
on the control strategy
chosen. In these applications,
very fast response is essential,
the E024 for example reacting to
an input in less than 1ms.
Two other applications for
the Moog valve on an F1 car are
the fuel ap and reverse gear.
Both are simple on-off scenarios
and do not use the closed-loop
technology normally associated
with Moog valves. A feature of
the E024 valve, however, is that
it can be modied to mimic the
function of two independent,
three-way solenoid valves,
meaning a single E024 valve can
A spool from one of
Moogs linear power-
assisted steering valves
be used either to open the fuel
ap or to select reverse gear,
saving the weight of a second
valve and its associated wiring
and mounting manifold. This
relies on the premise that its
not necessary to re-fuel while
travelling in reverse!
Over the years, the demands
placed on Moogs products by F1
have intensied and there has
been constant development to
rise to the challenge. Response
times, in particular, are critical
and considerable effort has been
put into reducing the inertia of
the armature in the torque motor,
increasing its eld strength and
reducing the air gaps. This has
enabled Moog to reduce the
response time of the electrics to
less than 1ms, helping the valve
achieve maximum control ow in
less than 3ms.
Temperature also places great
demands on hydraulic systems
and their control valves. On an
F1 car, the hydraulic uid will
typically operate at around
100-135degC and the high
November 2008 www.racecar-engineering.com 69
pressure and throttling action of
the valve generates more heat.
The hydraulic uid reservoir of
an F1 car typically holds less
than 300cc, so there is very
little mass of uid to absorb
heat and temperatures can
rise very quickly. There is also
reluctance on the part of teams
to provide oil-to-air coolers for
the uid due to the extra weight
and aerodynamic drag incurred.
Instead, they sometimes use oil-
to-water heat exchangers with
the engine coolant
that will already be
running in excess of
110degC.
All this means the
valves have to be
designed to cope with
the heat. All seals
are of Viton high-
temperature material
and machining tolerances are
kept very tight in pursuit of good
sealing. At the high temperatures
to which F1 subjects its hydraulic
uids, viscosity is considerably
reduced, down to as low as
4-5CSt, compared with 20CSt in
normal industrial applications.
Such low viscosity makes
retaining the uid a challenge
and the clearance between the
spool and the valve housing
needs to be just 1.25m.
Such precision components
being used in a hostile
environment inevitably have
 DESIGN AND INNOVATION

FORMULA 1 APPLICATIONS POWER

STEERING

Over the years,

Formula 1 steering
has become increasingly
THROTTLE
heavy, as steering
ACTUATION
geometry has sought
ENGINE INLET to extract aerodynamic
TRUMPETS GEARBOX benets. Now all
ACTUATION F1 cars have power
steering and would be
undriveable without. A
ACTIVE few years ago, however,
SUSPENSION during one of its
sweeping rule changes
aimed at attempting to
put control of the cars
FRONT WING
back in the hands of the
ACTUATION drivers, the FIA banned
electromechanical
power steering. This
removed any ability
KERS to map the steering
TRANS- assistance the driver
was given in response
MISSION to the conditions. Some
form of power steering
was still needed,
however, and because
Moog valves had been
used in the now banned
electromechanical
systems, it was an
obvious move for the
ABS company to look at
developing a passive,
BRAKING
POWER-ASSISTED hydro-mechanical,
power-assisted
BRAKING
steering system.
BRAKE BALANCE
HYDRO-MECHANICAL
Mick Hill at freelanceillustration.com

What the company

came up with is in
POWER-ASSISTED essence very similar
CLUTCH CONTROL
STEERING to the principles of a
conventional road car
system, but smaller,
lighter, more accurate
and able to work at
Diagrammatic showing the multiple and varied roles of Moog control valves on the current breed of Formula 1 cars constant pressures of
200Bar. Essentially,
the regulating valve
a limited service life and in F1 being perceived as incompatible which uses a linear electric motor is very similar to one
Moog valves are usually replaced with the nature of servicing to activate the spool valve. By of the companys
after 12,000km. They also need on events. Ever more complex removing the pilot stage and its electro-hydraulic servo
valves but, instead
to be serviced either every transmissions with active very ne jets, the valve is much
of the signal coming
4000km, or after 20 less susceptible to
from a torque motor,
hours of use. This the valve is much uid contamination it is fed from a torsion
entails the valve and the hydraulic
being dismantled
less susceptible to uid system can be
bar or linear springs
in the load path of the
and inspected and contamination and the serviced in the eld. steering. As the steering
load increases it creates
key parts replaced,
including the seals,
hydraulic system can be Despite
approaching its 60th a displacement in
a tiny, 15m lter serviced in the eld birthday then, the the torsion bar that is
that strains out Moog valve is still linked directly to the
spool that, just as in the
particles and a thin-wall stainless differentials requiring precise very much part of the cutting-
normal valve, provides a
steel tube in the pilot stage. hydraulic control, however, edge technology on which
pressure differential
For a long time, rallying forced the manufacturers to motorsports highest echelons to the ends of the
resisted the use of Moog consider Moog valves. The rely and, unless hydraulics fall steering rack, giving
valves due to their need for company responded with its from favour, looks likely to power assistance.
scrupulously clean hydraulic uid E050 Proportional Cartridge DDV, remain so.

70 www.racecar-engineering.com November 2008